"So're you," said Button-Bright, gravely. "Is King Dough good to eat?"
"He's too good to eat," laughed Chick the Cherub.
"I hope none of you are fond of gingerbread," said the King,
rather anxiously.
"We should never think of eating our visitors, if we were," declared
the Scarecrow; "so please do not worry, for you will be perfectly safe
while you remain in Oz."
"Why do they call you Chick?" the Yellow Hen asked the child.
"Because I'm an Incubator Baby, and never had any parents," replied the
Head Booleywag.
"My chicks have a parent, and I'm it," said Billina.
"I'm glad of that," answered the Cherub, "because they'll have more
fun worrying you than if they were brought up in an Incubator. The
Incubator never worries, you know."
King John Dough had brought for Ozma's birthday present a lovely
gingerbread crown, with rows of small pearls around it and a fine big
pearl in each of its five points. After this had been received by
Dorothy with proper thanks and placed on the table with the other
presents, the visitors from Hiland and Loland were escorted to their
rooms by the High Chamberlain.
They had no sooner departed than the band before the palace began to
play again, announcing more arrivals, and as these were doubtless from
foreign parts the High Chamberlain hurried back to receive them in
his most official manner.
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